DAY. 19 Dr. Dan Formosa

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About Dr. Dan Formosa:

As a designer Dan Formosa has developed products and services in a wide variety of categories. With his undergraduate degree in product design and a doctorate in ergonomics and biomechanics, he focuses on ways design can improve our lives. Doing this requires that we first understand people.

Using this approach he has found ways, simply through design, to increase fuel efficiency in automobiles, improve drug compliance and health, and make our day-to-day lives just a little easier.

Starting his career Dan was a member of the team that design IBM’s first personal computer (a junior member, he’ll remind you). In 1980 he helped establish Smart Design, dedicated to exploring ways in which design can positively impact people’s lives.

He is the recipient of numerous design awards over the years. Dan’s work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. In 2010, on behalf of Smart Design, he received the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. Also that year he helped establish the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City – the first program of its kind anywhere, dedicated to the rapidly changing roles of brands. In 2012 Dan received IxDA’s first annual Interaction Award. He also co-authored the bestselling book Baseball Field Guide, clearly explaining the complex rules of Major League Baseball.

In addition to consulting for companies globally, Dan frequently writes and lectures on various aspects of design, the future of design, and the human experience.

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What is your impression about a brand called Brazil?

Place: Beautiful

People: Crazy

Three events come to mind about Brazil that shape my impressions.

My first eventful encounter with the people of Brazil was being in a stadium with about 35,000 of them. It was a long time ago, sometime in the 1980s, and an exhibition soccer game at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands (NJ). They were playing Argentina. One thing that impressed me that day was that the stadium, which held more than 70,000 people, could fill up with so many South Americans. Another was that half of them were wearing green and yellow, and waving Brazilian flags. And another – that 70,000+ people, Brazilians and Argentinians, could chant continuously for more than three hours the event took place. My thought afterwards – I need to go to Brazil.

That didn’t actually happen till many years later. In 2005 I had a chance to travel to Rio to participate in a conference on design. The venue was a hotel on the beach, at the corner of Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. It was December, summer in Brazil. The location was absolutely beautiful. But walking down the beach was even more interesting. The beach was filled with people who apparently were born with a soccer ball at their feet. Many were performing amazing kicks and volleys. I’d say it was showing off – but everyone seemed to be at the same skill level.

My Portuguese is non-existent. Nonetheless, I had surprisingly extensive conversations with many people on the beach who did not speak English. In many places in the world it would have been unlikely that the conversation would go very far. In Brazil, the lack of a common language seemed to be more of an insignificant nuisance. Names were figured out first. Then “where are you from.” Then we continued on to wherever the conversation went. At certain points, drawing in the sand helped. At other times finding a person walking by who knew at least some words in English and could assist. That was just day 1 on Brazil.

The rest of the week was equally as interesting. The conference was good – but the conference crowd was international. The Brazilians, in the conference and outside, stood far out as being fun, friendly and crazy. A stark contrast however, because Rio was also a dangerous place. I received cautions of theft whenever I pulled out my camera to take a photo. Even cautions to watch a $4 English-Portuguese dictionary I had bought and place next to me while sitting on a public bench near the beach.

The Brazilians I met took me to many places in and around Rio. That trip concluded with me being taken to a Saturday night samba event. An outdoor event, it started with about 50 drummers and ended into early hours with samba frenzy. I was pretty sure when I got back home that the entire trip was a dream.

The third encounter – I met Fred Gelli, head of Tátil design group two years ago, who showed me the work they did for the 2016 Olympics. Videos showing the enthusiasm of the people from Rio reflected their passion for both Rio and Brazil. The energy clearly came through in the videos. 2016 is going to get a great year.

For the “brand of Brazil” – asking that question about many other countries would conjure images of their past – history, architecture, geographic images, and the people. But to me, Brazil brings images of its people first. And I’ve never met a person from Brazil I didn’t like.